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05-26-05, 03:03 PM
In the Uk, and in particular where I live, Tandems are few and far between. On my type of Tandem, there are even less. I ride an Offroad Tandem that is set up for Aggressive off road and in general that is all I do. Tandem by the Way is a Dale MT2000, but with Rockshox Boxer forks, Wheels are Hope Big un hubs with Mavic EX729 downhill rims and Hope Mono M4 brakes with 200mm discs. All other parts are up to "Freeride" or "Downhill" quality and this is ridden aggressively off road with a Bunch of solo's.
However, we do occasionally do a Fun Road Ride and we did one on Wednesday. This was an organised Charity ride and took in 50miles on roads in Sussex. All grades of rider, collection points for the riders to regroup, and plenty of tea and biscuits available. We treated this as a shake down ride for a big Offroad Randonnee in 3 weeks time, and the only changes were to put slicks on, and carrying an extra 10lbs weight in the top bag on the rear post mounted rack to assimilate the bouncing that the rack will take offroad.
Only one Tandem on the ride, other than a couple of cheap hired ones to transport local dignitaries from one check point to the next. This Tandem was fast on the flat, steady up the hills, and I will come onto the Downhill soon. We went into Brighton from the top of the Range of hills just outside the City, and as we were very early for meeting the Mayor Brighton, went to the beach for a coffee and icecream. On the beach, all the talk was the speed on the hill dropping down into Brighton. Some were held up by traffic, some were not confident at speed, and some were raving about the speed they got up to. One had got to35mph before he was overtaken by the Chief Constable of Sussex on his Look Road bike. (The Ride was organised by the Sussex Police by the Way and all the riders except me were policemen) Another was moaning that the car he was following suddenly braked and put him off the fast line in the middle of the road. The Chief then asked My co-rider what speed we had got up to. When he saw the computer, he gave us look of asonishment. 52.4 mph on a crowded road, in a 40 mph limit and on a bike. That cannot happen, but he had it verified as we overtook one of the Motorbike outriders when he was doing 45 mph.
Fantastic ride, as we rode to the event and back we did atotal ogf 75miles, the bike stood up to it, but I think,(Think is not the rightword, as I either need a new a new saddle or a new butt) my saddle has had it. One point noted, A lot of the local police took part on their mode of transport which is the Police bicycles and in their police cycling uniform. If you want to have a ride without any motorists causing you problem, passing you with plenty of room and giving you the respect that we need, get twenty policemen to join you in their yellow vests with police on the back and have 6 Police motobikes as out riders
However, we do occasionally do a Fun Road Ride and we did one on Wednesday. This was an organised Charity ride and took in 50miles on roads in Sussex. All grades of rider, collection points for the riders to regroup, and plenty of tea and biscuits available. We treated this as a shake down ride for a big Offroad Randonnee in 3 weeks time, and the only changes were to put slicks on, and carrying an extra 10lbs weight in the top bag on the rear post mounted rack to assimilate the bouncing that the rack will take offroad.
Only one Tandem on the ride, other than a couple of cheap hired ones to transport local dignitaries from one check point to the next. This Tandem was fast on the flat, steady up the hills, and I will come onto the Downhill soon. We went into Brighton from the top of the Range of hills just outside the City, and as we were very early for meeting the Mayor Brighton, went to the beach for a coffee and icecream. On the beach, all the talk was the speed on the hill dropping down into Brighton. Some were held up by traffic, some were not confident at speed, and some were raving about the speed they got up to. One had got to35mph before he was overtaken by the Chief Constable of Sussex on his Look Road bike. (The Ride was organised by the Sussex Police by the Way and all the riders except me were policemen) Another was moaning that the car he was following suddenly braked and put him off the fast line in the middle of the road. The Chief then asked My co-rider what speed we had got up to. When he saw the computer, he gave us look of asonishment. 52.4 mph on a crowded road, in a 40 mph limit and on a bike. That cannot happen, but he had it verified as we overtook one of the Motorbike outriders when he was doing 45 mph.
Fantastic ride, as we rode to the event and back we did atotal ogf 75miles, the bike stood up to it, but I think,(Think is not the rightword, as I either need a new a new saddle or a new butt) my saddle has had it. One point noted, A lot of the local police took part on their mode of transport which is the Police bicycles and in their police cycling uniform. If you want to have a ride without any motorists causing you problem, passing you with plenty of room and giving you the respect that we need, get twenty policemen to join you in their yellow vests with police on the back and have 6 Police motobikes as out riders